Scared? You will be! Feel your nerves jangle and chills run up and down your spine thanks to the hair-raising genius of Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain, E. F. Benson, H. P. Lovecraft, Fritz Leiber, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Stephen Crane, Charles Dickens, Robert Barr, and many others who know well how to manipulate a reader's emotions. From Washington Irving comes "The Adventure of My Grandfather" and from Saki, "The Cobweb." Bill Pronzini plays a horrifying game of "Peekaboo," while Frances Garfield portrays "The House at Evening" to alarming effect. This unique and very special collection is like a carnival ride of terror that you'll want to go on again and again.
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
By John M. Ford
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover
The 100 stories in this collection are all short and get to the point of horrifying, terrorizing, and entertaining you. It's a good book to have on your shelf for those times when the mood takes you to be frightened. And when you don't have much time to build up to it.
There is a mix of well-known and relatively unknown authors. My favorites are from two very different well-known writers:
Mark Twain's "A Curious Dream" recount's the author's encounter with a procession of restless spirits with his customary tongue-in-the-cheek humor.
Mark Twain's "A Ghost Story" presents his encounter with the ghost of the Cardiff Giant.
H. P. Lovecraft's "The Evil Clergyman" tells a tale of a visitor who faces a departed practitioner of black magic.
H. P. Lovecraft's "The Hound" tells of two ghoulish thieves who steal an amulet and of the owner's dogged pursuit.
H. P. Lovecraft's "The Statement of Randolf Carter" tells of Harley Warren's underground explorations `beyond the radius of human imagination' related to his friend by telephone.
Most of the other stories are good, too. I don't recommend most of them as bedtime reading for children. Unless, of course, you are just the babysitter and someone else will have to stay up with them the rest of the night.
There is a mix of well-known and relatively unknown authors. My favorites are from two very different well-known writers:
Mark Twain's "A Curious Dream" recount's the author's encounter with a procession of restless spirits with his customary tongue-in-the-cheek humor.
Mark Twain's "A Ghost Story" presents his encounter with the ghost of the Cardiff Giant.
H. P. Lovecraft's "The Evil Clergyman" tells a tale of a visitor who faces a departed practitioner of black magic.
H. P. Lovecraft's "The Hound" tells of two ghoulish thieves who steal an amulet and of the owner's dogged pursuit.
H. P. Lovecraft's "The Statement of Randolf Carter" tells of Harley Warren's underground explorations `beyond the radius of human imagination' related to his friend by telephone.
Most of the other stories are good, too. I don't recommend most of them as bedtime reading for children. Unless, of course, you are just the babysitter and someone else will have to stay up with them the rest of the night.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars
10 reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Masters of the Trickiest Form of Literature
Jun 1 2003
By L. Dann
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
As Frederick Douglass once said, "I confess I love littleness in all things." These ironic and timeless tales are less horrifying than startling for their perfection and originality. There appear to be no prescriptions or standards for the short short horror. Each victim, each critical moment in time and place is unique and unlike its companions in the collection. And why not, when some of the authors are named Twain, Saki, Poe, Lovecraft, Hawthorne and Crane to name a few. Every tale is narrated by a voice that gives away nothing while it adds to the tension. Guaranteed to make you shiver, from laughter, dread or awe, this collection is an extended experience within the unexpected and the unpredictable. My favorite has to be Dark Wings by Phyllis Eisenstein, where the sight of a large bird in flight against a white moon, becomes an obsession with the strangest end a soaring climax I can recall in fiction of this length.
As the editors and contributors, Al Sarrantino and Martin H. Greenberg point out in the preface; this form, the short short story, is the hardest of all literary forms to perfect. Every word and every mark of punctuation is critical and must be exact. Though they appear brief and simple, they are about as effortless as say---flying. Just about every decade in the 20th century and many from the 19th are represented in some of the greatest literary giants. Giants of brevity and brilliance. Savor it, but definitely get a copy.
As the editors and contributors, Al Sarrantino and Martin H. Greenberg point out in the preface; this form, the short short story, is the hardest of all literary forms to perfect. Every word and every mark of punctuation is critical and must be exact. Though they appear brief and simple, they are about as effortless as say---flying. Just about every decade in the 20th century and many from the 19th are represented in some of the greatest literary giants. Giants of brevity and brilliance. Savor it, but definitely get a copy.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
100 Hair Raising Little Horror Stories!
April 5 2005
By J. Connor
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
This is a wonderful book containing hundreds of classic, vintage horror and ghost stories. The tension builds steadily in each story, leading you to gasp in horror or gulp in nervousness. These are examples of some of the work included in this book:
"Berenice"- This is a very disturbing tale of a young man driven to misery by an experience with a young woman named Berenice. She passes away one night, and the narrator sees her in his room with grotesque features. He then learns the next morning that Berenice has risen from her grave. Written by Edgar Allen Poe.
"The Idea"- This is the story of a man in a suspicious business executive that drives his family away from him with a ghastly idea that will lead to the corruption of his business.
"The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar"- A horrifying tale of the narrator attempting to mesmerize a dying man afflicted with a terminal illness. The gruesome occurances that follow the mesmerization will haunt your dreams for weeks. Written by Edgar Allen Poe.
"No. 1 Branch Line, The Signalman"- This Charles Dickens story tells of an aging man at a branch line that continues to see mysterious spectres outside his post. The narrator meets up with the man and believes him to be in an incompetent state of mind. He changes his mind, however, when the signalman is killed by a ghostly train one evening.
"Nightshapes"- A frightening tale about a man driven to insanity when his wife transforms into a werewolf every midnight. He also thinks of himself as a madman.
"Night Deposits"- A riveting tale of an elderly man's co-worker who is put into heavy debt by a mill factory. He keeps seeing his friend at night putting money into the night deposit bank slot. He continues to see his friend do this even after the bank is torn down.
There are hundreds more stories that you will find both interesting and terrifying in this book. I personally enjoy sitting down and reading four stories at a time. My hands are always shaking by the time I close the book. Pick it up and enjoy!
"Berenice"- This is a very disturbing tale of a young man driven to misery by an experience with a young woman named Berenice. She passes away one night, and the narrator sees her in his room with grotesque features. He then learns the next morning that Berenice has risen from her grave. Written by Edgar Allen Poe.
"The Idea"- This is the story of a man in a suspicious business executive that drives his family away from him with a ghastly idea that will lead to the corruption of his business.
"The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar"- A horrifying tale of the narrator attempting to mesmerize a dying man afflicted with a terminal illness. The gruesome occurances that follow the mesmerization will haunt your dreams for weeks. Written by Edgar Allen Poe.
"No. 1 Branch Line, The Signalman"- This Charles Dickens story tells of an aging man at a branch line that continues to see mysterious spectres outside his post. The narrator meets up with the man and believes him to be in an incompetent state of mind. He changes his mind, however, when the signalman is killed by a ghostly train one evening.
"Nightshapes"- A frightening tale about a man driven to insanity when his wife transforms into a werewolf every midnight. He also thinks of himself as a madman.
"Night Deposits"- A riveting tale of an elderly man's co-worker who is put into heavy debt by a mill factory. He keeps seeing his friend at night putting money into the night deposit bank slot. He continues to see his friend do this even after the bank is torn down.
There are hundreds more stories that you will find both interesting and terrifying in this book. I personally enjoy sitting down and reading four stories at a time. My hands are always shaking by the time I close the book. Pick it up and enjoy!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Absolutely Fun Read!
Feb 20 2008
By J.Smith
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
This anthology collection reads more like Tales From The Darkside or Twilight Zone and are well written. If you like that type of genre then these stories are for you..
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Go to Amazon.com to see all 10 reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
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